Blog

Job hunting: is it a wasteland?

I just saw “Mad Max: Fury Road” (George Miller / Village Roadshow Pictures, 2015) for the first time yesterday. (I know, it hit theaters forever ago, but I never took the chance to go see it in the theater.) It reminded me of some people’s job search when they call our office.

Often times, these job seekers have been looking for a job for months with little success, leaving many to wonder if, in fact, there are any jobs at all. The job market for them feels like the apocalyptic wasteland, where they race with the competition for the best prospects. It seems like only the strongest, smartest, or most ruthless survive the furious chase.

Granted, they aren’t wearing distressed leather jackets, driving supped up V8 engines, and spearing each other’s vehicles with bombs, but the mentality has some striking similarities:

1. The market crash and the Great Recession is still fresh in people’s minds, giving them a survivor’s mentality

Many job seekers are still scared from the brutal unemployment rates and overall hiring landscape after the market crashed. Many people were forced to learn new professions just to keep their heads above water, all while dreading the possibility of getting laid off. A survivor’s mentality permeated the population. Some, such as myself, worked for temp agencies or had to take odd jobs in order to pay for simple things like food or a roof over their head.

Like huddled groups of War Boys, many Millennials took up residence with multiple roommates just because they couldn’t afford their own place, or worse, had to move back in with their parents. Meanwhile, older generations of the American workforce were under constant threat of a layoff just because of changing market conditions.

As the lone job hunter, I felt like the job boards such as CareerBuilder.com and Indeed.com transformed into a vast wasteland where no jobs existed, with an occasional oasis of opportunity springing up just to be closed within a matter of days. Even though the market has greatly recovered these days, people still remember being in that position. These are the hardened survivors of the wasteland. Plus, we still see the proverbial roving gangs of revheads swooping in to take the best jobs, hoarding and distributing them to their network like a coveted resource.

2. Self-Sufficiency is paramount

If you can’t take care of yourself out in the wasteland, you will quickly be trampled over by someone that can. The same is true in job hunting. Granted, you are not ever truly alone in real life and can use services such as ours to help you, but you can’t take those resources for granted.

Ultimately, you are responsible for getting the job you want, no one else. If you are not motivated and self-starting when it comes to looking for a job, you will find yourself in a very similar situation that faces a wasteland wanderer every day. If they are not doing everything in their power to survive, they quickly fall by the wayside and are consumed by the harsh sands.

If you don’t keep yourself moving with a proactive job search strategy, you will likely miss out on the best opportunities. This goes beyond just looking at the employment websites. Even today, it is necessary to research companies, reach out to key managers, network within your industry, and contact recruiters to find the best jobs.

3. Have the right tools and keep them maintained

In any apocalyptic film, the protagonist always has some kind of tool, car, weapon or some other advantage in the wasteland. For Mad Max, it was his Interceptor. Furiosa had the War Rig. For countless others, it was simply their intelligence, skills, or even the simple will to live that gave them a distinct advantage.

I mean, just imagine having to repair this monster war rig while on the run from gangs of psychopaths

For you, your tools include your resume, LinkedIn Profile, cover letters, and references. You want to be sure to maintain these resources and make sure they are always up to date with your current work history and relevant key words for your field. Without them, your resume is often never seen by a real person and is screened out by computer programs.

Most people will invest the time to create a strong resume at the beginning of their job search. However, it must be maintained as well. If you aren’t getting many interviews or if the interviews don’t reflect your true target jobs, you need to revise your tools. Generally speaking, give it about 30 – 45 days to evaluate the effectiveness of your resume and LinkedIn profile. This allows for enough time for the HR hiring cycle to complete.

In Conclusion: Your Redemption

The real message behind “Mad Max: Fury Road” is not the chase, the explosions, or even reaching Valhalla: it is redemption. By the end of the movie, our heroes turn away from the wasteland to risk going against the odds to open up opportunities not only for themselves, but for the entire population under Immortan Joe’s control. When you approach your own job search with courage, solid tools, determination, and a strong, supportive network, you too can reap the shiny and chrome rewards of your own job search.

James is responsible for the day to day operations of the office and the lead correspondent for all marketing for the company. He can typically be found assisting Donna directly in the office or during workshops and courses. Other than basic office skills and over 3 years of office experience, he uses his talents as a designer and social networker to help fine tune the image the company wants to present to the world.